Improvement in feed-cutters



A. HANCOCK. Feed-Gutter.

No. 220,143. Patented Sept. 30,1879.

WITNESSES INVENTOR:

ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ADAM HANCOCK, OF ST. ALBANS, WEST VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND T. N. COOK, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN FEED-CUTTERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 220,143, dated September 30, 1879; application filed July 523, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADAM HANCOCK, of St. Albans, in the county of Kanawha and State of West Virginia, have invented a new and Improved Feed-Cutter, of which the following is a specification.

Figure 1 is a plan of the device. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation 011 line w 00, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

The object of this invention is to provide a cheap, simple, and effective device for cutting hay, straw, 850., for feed for horses and cattle.

The invention consists of arect-angular box, open at the top and rear, and having a vertically-movable front, whose lower edge is furnished with an inclined cuttingblade. A lever, one end of which is fast in a rocking shaft fixed between the sides of the box, projects through a central opening in the movable front, and is the medium through which the device is operated.

In the drawings, A represents the bottom of the box; B, the sides, havi'ng grooves a for holding the front of the box. (3 is the front, vertically movable in the grooves a, and having a central opening, I), for the passage of the lever. c are the plates of metal secured about the top and bottom of the opening to prevent undue wear upon the front by the action of the lever.

At 11 the front piece is cutaway on a lateral slope and beveled from the outer to the inner face.

D is the cutting-blade, securely fastened on the inner face of the front on a line parallel with the sloping edge. E is the rocking shaft or fulcrum for the lever, stretching across the interior of the box and journaled in its sides. F is the lever, made fast in the rocking shaft and projecting through the opening I). G is an inclined shelf or table, under which the hay or straw to be cut is fed. H is a crossbeam to hold the sides firmly in position. f is a metallic strip fastened along the front edge of the bottom A to assist the action of the knife.

In order to operate the device, it is screwed or otherwise fastened down upon a bench or table, with the guiding ends 9 of the front overhanging, the hay or straw fed by hand into the rear of the box and passed forward under the knife, which is made to rise and fall by the action of the lever.

It is found that much more work can be done in a given time with a knife cuttingdiagonally than can be accomplished with the old straightedged knife, and that the rocking shaft and lever enable the operator to apply his power to the greatest advantage.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a feed-cutter, the combination of a box consisting of bottom A, upright grooved sides B, with the vertically-movable front 0, that is provided with a central opening, 1), guides g, and cutter D, and with the lever F, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination of the rocking shaft E and lever F with movable front 0, provided with cutter D, as herein shown and described.

3. The combination of the sides B, inclined table G, rocking shaft E, lever F, and crosstimber H, substantially as herein shown and described.

4. The vertically-movable front 0, provided with central opening I), metallic plates 0,, beveled lower edge, d, guides g, and the diagonal cutter D, as and for the purpose described.

ADAM HANCOOK.' 

